


To Love and be Loved

by DryadOffical (Gameiplier)



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Barry Bluejeans/Original Male Character, Eventual Romance, F/M, Kid Fic, Minor Character Death, Original Character(s), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, for like two seconds anyways
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-26
Updated: 2018-04-23
Packaged: 2019-03-24 07:58:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,197
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13806906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gameiplier/pseuds/DryadOffical
Summary: Barry got the two something to eat before he got to working on unpacking, the front door open, letting in some fresh late spring air as he went too and from the car with boxes and things. He started on the kids room, they’d probably only share for a couple more years, until Claudia was almost 7 and probably would want her own room since she was older. She was soft spoken, kind, quick to attach, and cling to her uncle like a lifeline. Julian was 5 and also attached, more wild and loved to get dirty, wanted a dog, probably wouldn’t want his sister to move out to a different room, and called Barry papa even though he knew he was his uncle. Barry was fine with it





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> First I must give a CW for parent death and talk of that, probably through the fic, this isn't going to just be a Blup fic, but me exploring some different things with personal head canons and all that. It is mostly going to be happy so please don't think it's going to be mostly angst! I would never really do that, but we are going to be exploring grief and all that with this, I have things planned. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

Barry Hallwinter decided to move, two children in tow, no older than seven years old. Oh no, they weren’t his kids, but he loved them all the same, they were his sisters kids who he helped raise to this point. Their mother, his wonderful older sister, passed from a heart disease not even a year prior, they didn’t know anything beforehand about her having anything wrong, it was just sudden. But it seems the Hallwinter family wasn’t very lucky when it came to their hearts, their father Gregor died from a heart attack, Barry never even got to meet the man, he’s only seen pictures of Gregor holding him when he was a newborn. His mother was luckily still around, and as far as Barry knew he himself was still in good health, and with his sisters wishes, he took custody of the kids to raise. 

 

But still, he needed to get away, he moved only an hour from the ranch he grew up on, a nice looking subdivision with a high school that never had more than 900 kids in attendance, a nice small community that also seemed to have its fair share of popular destinations. Barry had only passed through it a few times, there was a newer cafe slash bakery run by the Campana twins who honestly seemed like they should be in a big city, rather than a small community. But the place never seemed to be empty, only when it was closed. He went in there once or twice on the way back from getting supplies for the ranch, but he never ran across either of the owners which people seemed to do frequently, guess he wasn’t a lucky man. 

 

Barry got the two something to eat before he got to working on unpacking, the front door open, letting in some fresh late spring air as he went too and from the car with boxes and things. He started on the kids room, they’d probably only share for a couple more years, until Claudia was almost 7 and probably would want her own room since she was older. She was soft spoken, kind, quick to attach, and cling to her uncle like a lifeline. Julian was 5 and also attached, more wild and loved to get dirty, wanted a dog, probably wouldn’t want his sister to move out to a different room, and called Barry papa even though he knew he was his uncle. Barry was fine with it. 

 

Marlana wasn’t the most fond of him moving to the town, but understood that Barry coped with things differently, and that her son would be there as soon as possible if she were to need anything. 

 

He shook his head and dropped the last of the boxes onto the living room floor and looked at everything, god he hated unpacking. But the sooner he started, the sooner he would get done. Nah, he could take a break. He scooped Julian up over one shoulder, the boy squealing with laughter, curling his fingers into his uncles thick shirt and kicking his legs. Claudia followed, chuckling softly. Barry dropped to his knees and gently dropped Julian onto the soft grass of their front yard, it was nothing compared to the rolling fields they had back at the ranch, but it was good enough. Julian instantly got up and started running laps around the lawn, getting all his energy out from being in a car for what was much too long for him. Barry sits back and watches with a small smile, Claudia sitting down beside of him and resting against her uncles shoulder. Julian would fall and roll, getting up and dusting off before launching himself at Barry to play wrestle, Barry threw him in the air a couple times, letting the boy stop and take a break against his chest, all red faced and dirty, boy he would need a bath tonight. 

 

After a bit Barry looks up and feels a brief moment of panic in his chest when he doesn’t see Claudia, letting out a deep breath when he sees her on the sidewalk, petting a massive and beautiful German Shepherd being walked by a pretty woman with fluffy brown curls who was watching Claudia with a soft smile and a cautious eye. He stands up and lets Julian get a piggy back ride from him as he walks over to the woman with his own small smile. 

 

“Nice to meet you!” He calls, halfway towards them and nods at the woman politely. She looks up and her smile seems to grow at the sight of the two of them. 

 

“Well hello there, you three must be the new neighbors.” 

 

Barry nods and lets Julian down so that he can go over and pet the dog with his sister.

  
"That we are, we're just from about an hour out of town, so it's not that big of a move. I'm Barry, this one," He puts his hands on Claudia's shoulders. "Is Claudia, and the boy is Julian." The woman smiles down at the two kids, who wave at her with a polite smiles.

  
"Nice to meet you all, I'm Julia Burnsides, and this big baby is Clementine." Barry and her shake hands, and he can't help to pet the dog as well. He knows Julian is gonna ask later on if they can get a dog, and he might think about it once they all get more settled into the neighborhood.

  
"Pretty looking dog, how long have you had her?" Claudia asks, looking up at Julia, a little bit of awe across her face.

  
"Since she was a puppy, an old friend of me and my husband were giving them away after their dog had pups." Claudia makes a soft 'ooo' noise and giggles when the dog starts licking her face. Barry watches with a fond smile and scoops Julian up again when he comes over, holding up his arms.

  
"Well we better be heading off, we'll have to have you over for dinner sometime soon." Julia says as she starts to walk off down the sidewalk.

  
"Of course! Once we're all settled in, we'll make plans." Barry waves, smiling.

 

"Can't wait!" Julia responds over her shoulder as she waves at the kids, walking home.

  
  


Later that evening when Barry got most of the kitchen stuff unpacked and was making a simple dinner of chicken noodle soup and grilled cheese for the two was when Julian finally asked the question, not at all hesitant. He tugged on his uncles shirt and looked up at him as Barry flipped one of the sandwiches over. Barry looks down at him and raises an eyebrow, a small smile on his face.

  
"Yes, pup?" Julian beams up at his uncle, hoping that the added cuteness would help him in his not at all new questioning.

  
"Can we get a puppy?" He asks, practically bouncing on his toes, still tugging gently at Barry's flannel. Barry sighs softly and takes the food off the stove and turns off the burners, before kneeling down in front of Julian, putting his hands on the little boy's shoulders, this, only makes Julian bounce more, now a nervous tic.

  
"Once we're settled into the new place and finally have everything unpacked, we'll think about it. We don't have as much space as back at the ranch, but if you're really good, I'll consider it." Julian lets out a yell of joy and throws his arms around Barry's neck, hugging him tightly.

  
"Okay! Yay!" He blows a slobbery raspberry onto Berry's cheek and Barry can't help but to make a face, laughing along with the little boy.

  
"Now that we've talked about that, go sit at the table for dinner." Barry ruffles Julian's messy curls and kisses his forehead softly.

  
"Okay, papa!" Julian rushes off and climbs up onto the chair at the table, Claudia already sitting down, legs swinging as she watches the scene with a smile. Barry feels his heart clench a little at Julian's words, knows that it was only because Julian didn't really get to know his mother very well before she passed, he was fine with it, and Julian knew Barry wasn't really his father.   
  


But Barry felt like a dad anyways, and he loved the feeling more than anything.

  
  


Barry gets everyone up early the next day, both of the kids utterly hating having being woken up before noon after the long day they had prior. But he wants to get to the shops and get groceries before the rush and also promised the two of them that they could have breakfast at the Campana Café, and he knew he'd regret the two chocolate muffins now sitting on both of the kids plates. Damn, if he knew they were going to be this big, he would have ordered one and made the kids split it. But the looks on their faces was of pure joy and he let them have this moment, they could have the rest of the muffin as a snack later on because he knew that neither of them were going to finish them in one sitting.

  
Barry ordered a coffee and a raspberry cheese danish which was absolutely heaven as he ate it, he was totally gonna go broke here now that they pretty much lived within walking distance of the damn place. And the coffee was perfect too, a little expensive for his tastes, but had a little bit of a chocolate flavor to it which also made him indulge a little bit. It was pretty early, the only people in there were probably the early morning regulars, mostly some older folks who stopped to talk to the new faces for a moment before continuing on. Barry had a feeling that might happen a lot today.

  
There was a newspaper he was flipping through as he kept an eye on Julian and Claudia, the two talking to each other in soft voices, as they usually did when they were a little nervous in a new place, to keep themselves entertained and occupied. Barry was the same when he was little, as was his sister. The two reminded him so much of himself and her at their age so much, he took off his glasses for a moment to rub at his eyes, blinking back the burning of tears. Not not Hallwinter, not now. Putting his glasses back on, he jumped at the sight of another mug of coffee being placed on the table next to his empty one, steaming and black. He looks up to the person who sat it down, his heart giving a little stutter at the beautiful woman standing there, hands on her hips, grinning.

  
"Oh god, thank you... you didn't have to do that." He goes to pull out his wallet and she shakes her head.

  
"Ah, ah, ah. No need for that, you're the new dude in town, right? Bluejeans boy." Barry raises an eyebrow at the very sudden nickname, chuckling a bit. "It's on the house m'dude, you're probably gonna be living on the stuff until you get unpacked and all that." She shrugs. "I'm Lup Campana, one half of the owners of this little joint." Barry sits up a little bit, he's been here before and never run into either of them, but now that he actually lives here, he does. Must be the reason.

  
"Barry Hallwinter." He sets down the paper so he can stand to shake her hand, which she does with a strong grip. Damn. "And honestly, I probably will be living on coffee for a while, just nothing as good as yours." Barry nods at the mug. "Maxwell House, mostly." Lup makes a face and scoffs.

  
"Hallwinter, huh? A little fitting but honestly, Barry Bluejeans is a much better name."

  
"Is it though?" He asks, crossing his arms, but still amused.

 

"Nah, not really, but I've seen you here a couple times before, always wearing blue jeans." Barry looks down at the dark blue jeans he was wearing today, trying not to instantly turn red. That fails a bit.

  
"I come from a farming family, jeans are the easiest things to wear, but they're not all I wear." He points out. Barry was pretty used to the comments by now, he wore jeans more than anything else unless it was a formal thing, or he needed to dress up just a little bit more. "But, sorry to say, you're not the first person to make the joke."

  
"Well shit I was really hoping I was." Lup slaps a hand over her mouth and looks at the kids, she almost forgot they were there. "Uh. Whoops..." Barry laughs at that and shakes his head, looking over at his grinning children.

  
"It's fine."

  
"Oh thank god." Lup puts a hand over her chest and laughs.

 

"But no, really thank you for the refill." Barry rubs the back of his neck. "And I suppose I should introduce you to the two who are probably gonna be here a lot if they're good." He gestures to Julian. "The one who looks like he should constantly be dirty is Julian, and the adorable little girl is Claudia." Barry finishes, gesturing to her. Lup waves to them and sticks a tongue out at Julian who does it right back. Oh god she was going to be a treat.

  
"Aw man, if he likes to be dirty all the time, wait till you meet my foster dads son Mookie, little shit is at that stage where he never runs out of energy." Lup says and laughs. Barry watches Julian perk up, it would be nice for the two to have friends their age or so, getting to know more people in the town this way would be nice as well. 

 

"And you, cutie." She walks over by Claudia who smiles shyly and turns her head a bit so she doesn't have to make much eye contact. "You and Mavis and Angus will get along really well, I'm sure of it."

  
"Really?" Claudia asks, her voice soft, questioning.

  
"Of course with those adorable cherub cheeks of yours, I'm sure you have ever your dad here wrapped around your little finger." Claudia's shoulders slump a bit at the ending, the girl looking down at her half eaten muffin and biting gently on one of her knuckles. "Oh no, honey, I." Lup looks up at Barry, a faint look of panic in her eyes.

  
"It's okay." Barry holds up a hand, he had sat down again and he reaches over the table to gently pull Claudia's hand away from her mouth, holding tightly. "I'm just their uncle," He lowers his voice a bit, knowing it wasn't really needed, he's had this conversation a million times since he's got custody of the kids. 

 

"Their mom passed about a year ago, I have custody of them." Lup nods and stands from her kneeling position beside Claudia's chair.

  
"Well, I'm still sure you have him wrapped around your finger sweetheart." Lup smiles at her and nods, feeling a little embarrassed.

  
"Oh she does." Barry chuckles softly.

  
"Lup!" There's a voice from the back, behind the counter, Barry looks back and sees a head poking out of a doorway, looking almost identical to Lup. Must be the brother. "Stop flirting with the customers and get your ass back here!" Barry flushes again, he was too damn old to keep doing that, he tells himself in the back of his mind.

  
"Well, duty calls." She waves as she makes her way back to the kitchen, the soft sounds of the twins bickering at each other. Makes him think back to when he and his sister were kids and they would bicker in French so that their dads side of the family wouldn't be able to understand, but when their mother found out, oh boy, Marlena would give them a look that had them ready to turn tail and book it.

  
  


"Okay you two, let's go so we can get shopping done faster, so that we can hopefully finish unpacking the house by tonight." Barry pushes the two out the door and to the car, after packing up their treats for later and finishing the last of his coffee, leaving a hefty tip in the jar at the front.

  
Barry hated shopping, once he started he just wanted to get it over with and get out of the store so that he could go home and do what he needed to do. He made sure to get everything they needed for the house, thee three of them didn't pack many necessities like shampoo and soap, other than what he had in the kitchen, which is why they had to get the shopping done that day. Barry hates that he forgot to leave his Advil in the car because his leg was acting up and he was holding onto the cart a little tighter than he needed to because of how bad it was today.

  
While he's looking over some snacks for the kids a familiar sight catches his eye down the aisle and he perks up, it had been ages since he's seen the other person. Barry puts the box of pop tarts in his cart and pulls the kids along and gently bumps his cart into the others at the end of the isle. He can tell instantly that she's about to either say she's sorry or to absolutely curse out whoever did it. The woman's eyes go wide and she smiles, laughing and walking over to the man.

  
"Barry! Oh it's so good to see you." She hugs him and beams at the shorter man.

  
"Lucretia, god it's been so long. What? Six years? Almost seven?" He laughs and returns her hug.

  
"Something like that. Last time we saw each other I was visiting your sister in the hospital when she had Claudia." Lucretia looks at Claudia and smiles softly. "And you must be her, oh you look so much like your mother." Claudia smiles and ducks her head, saying a soft thank you to Lucretia.

  
"And this is Julian, her son." Julian waves and beams at the new person, Lucretia chuckles and waves back.

  
"Nice to meet you as well." Lucretia looks up at Barry, a somber expression coming across her face. "I'm sorry I couldn't make it to the funeral, I couldn't afford a plane ticket until recently." Barry shakes his head.

  
"No, no, it's perfectly understandable, we got the flowers and the card you had sent and it was more than enough."

  
Barry and Lucretia had been friends since high school, she went off to a big ivy league school and was doing amazingly and they had only been able to be in contact so much over the years. It was hard to keep in contact when you're both on different sides of the country and were constantly busy with work and life. But they called and texted on the holidays and that was enough for the two of them for the time being.

  
"What are you doing in town anyways?" Barry asks, curious.

  
"My mother insisted I come home and visit before Christmas, which I understand, that's practically almost a year away." She chuckles softly. "I was gonna come visit once I got done here, but I see you're shopping as well, didn't think you'd come this far just for some stuff."

  
"Nah, not usually. But we just moved into town, a little bit of a fresh start, you know?" Lucretia nods. "I'll text you my new address later so you have it for later and all that. And I'm sure this Sunday mom will want you to come over for breakfast or dinner, per family routine." 

 

Sundays at the Hallwinter Ranch was a big feast day. A big breakfast that had them stuffed all the way until dinner, and then a big dinner and great treats at the end of the day. Lucretia had gone to many of them all during high school.

  
"That's actually why I'm here, just for your mother's wonderful cooking."

  
"Well I knew it wasn't because I'm such a good friend."

  
"Not at all."

  
The two laugh with one another and Lucretia pats Barry's hand and smiles at him.

  
"How are you holding up." She pointedly looks down at one of his legs, and he can't help but to huff a bit, looking down and making a face at his own leg.

  
"Okay, but today is rough...." He was in the rodeo when he was a senior in high school and got his leg broken pretty bad, bad enough that there was permanent damage to his gait.

  
"As long as you're holding up, you're so strong." He chuckles a bit.

  
"You are too Luc."

  
The two talk for a little bit longer, and Barry only stops because he can see Julian and Claudia getting antsy and ready to go. So he says goodbye and heads off to finish shopping, which takes another hour and they're all dying to finally get home when they're done. When they get home, he sends the kids off to go unpack their room while he unpacks the food and works on the living room.

 

In the end, they do get done unpacking by around 8:30 pm, Julian and Claudia falling asleep on the couch half way through unpacking though. Barry carries each of them to their beds and tucks them in for the night. Tomorrow he'd have to be up early, the tv and internet both being scheduled on the same day to be installed. But he hardly felt tired and sat in the living room, putting in a movie on the dvd player they unpacked for the time being.

 

He ends up falling asleep there, half sprawled on the couch, but at least he changed into some comfortable clothes for the evening, he hated sleeping in jeans. 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: oh chapters after chapter one aren't going to be as long as that one  
> Me now: haha u thought, here, this one is going to be LONGER  
> Me: okay i GUESS 
> 
> Anyways, this chapter got out of hand but god do I love it so much, I really love all the people reading it because it's so nice to be back into writing again after a few months off. And I'm beginning to fall in love with this fic so much, so I hope you all are as well.

"Papa?" Oh he hates that voice, hears the words and is almost awake instantly. He hates that Claudia only calls him that when she's really upset and or scared, so Barry sits up in the bed and turns on the lamp at his bedside, looking in the darker doorway where his niece is standing, one hand on the doorframe, the other twisting the bottom of her shirt nervously.

  
"Viens ici a, mon petit." Barry yawns and holds out his arms, Claudia knows a little French, things he's taught her, things his mother has taught her. Nothing like Barry, but one day she'll know more, he tends to speak it a lot around his mom, likes to keep the children up to speed. They like it when he sings more than anything.

 

Claudia perks up a little bit and climbs onto the large bed, sitting on her knees between Barry's legs, looking up at him with her big blue green eyes. Barry reaches out a hand, asking permission to touch, his head tilted a little bit in question. It's only a small wait before she nods and Barry runs a gentle hand through her hair, which leads her to throwing herself onto his chest, curling up like a baby. She didn't do this often, must have been a bad night.

  
He wraps his arms around her and rubs her back, kisses the top of her head and sings softly under his breath to her, a lullaby Marlena sang to Barry and his sister all the time when they were younger, it was second nature at this point to sing it as well. Barry lets her settle for a moment, can feel the faint wetness of tears through the thin shirt he's wearing.

  
"A bad dream?" He asks softly, resting his cheek against the top of her head, running his fingers through messy dirty blonde hair. Claudia nods and grabs one of his hands, beginning to play with his fingers, he couldn't help but to chuckle a bit.

  
"'Bout mama." She whispers, running her thumb over long scar on the palm of Barry's hand. He sighs softly and brings that hand up, pressing a soft kiss to the back of her much smaller hand.

 

"Do you get them sometimes too?" Claudia asks him, still looking over his hand for other marks.  
"Sometimes, but sometimes I dream of all the fun we've had, the memories and us growing up. Do you want to hear a nice story like that?" He asks, settling back in the bed, grabbing a blanket to pull up over both of them.

  
"Yes please." Is all she says as she tucks her head under his chin. Barry smiles and rubs her back gently, trying to think on a story, there were a lot.

 

"Ah. I think I know a good one."

 

_"Rosalie you're going to get us in trouble!" Barry was pushing through the bushes far behind the main house on the property, trying to follow behind his sister. Trouble was, she was a lot taller than him and he was tiny, and he was thirteen years old, probably not going to get any taller if things kept going this way. "Mama said if we get our nice clothes dirty she'd kill us." It was the summer, it was warm out, and it was the annual family gathering. The first part of the day was mostly in nice clothes and socializing with family members, for the younger kids anyways. He could just see his older sisters bright yellow sundress up ahead._

 

_"Oh Sildar, have a little fun sometimes, we're not gonna get dirty, we're just gonna see if we can find more blackberries, they'll be perfect all the way back here!" Barry frowns and shakes his head._

 

_"I asked you not to call me that anymore Rose! Mom calls me Barry, why can't you?" He huffs and finally catches up with her, hands on his knees as he catches his breath, he had to run to catch up with her the last bit. Barry looked up to his sister and couldn't help but to smile. She was standing tall and proud, a wide smile on her face as she looks at the large blackberry bushes in front of her, filled with fat berries that they probably couldn't carry all of them back in the three containers they brought with them._

 

_"Sorry, it's just..." She sighs a bit. "No, no I have no excuse to not call you Barry!" Barry smiles and stands up, grabbing one of the containers Rosalie is holding and walking up to one of the bushes, starting to pick the berries off, dropping them into the bucket and watching as his sister moves up to do the same. It's probably about only half an hour, it was normal for the kids to start to run off around noon or one, they wouldn't be missed too much. But still._

 

_On the way back they talk about what they're gonna do for the rest of the day, eating a few of the berries on the way back. By the time their approaching the family, now mostly adults standing around and chatting, they haven't realized they've eaten one entire pail of berries, their fingers stained purple. Rosalie's dress has some stains on her dress, down where she was grabbing to pull her dress up do it didn't get caught on the briar bushes on the way back. Barry has a few on his white shirt where he was pulling at the collar because he was getting hotter as they kept walking. Their mother, not shockingly, is the first to see them return._

 

_"There you two are, where have you been?" Marlena chuckles and then, once the two of them get closer, her warm smile turns to a look of mild disappointment. "You two... I said you were supposed to keep clean, look at you!" She walks over to Barry and starts pulling at his shirt, and he looks down, flushing at the sight of the purple on his shirt. "And that." She points at Rosalie's dress where the stains are, and just like his sister, Rose simply shrugs and beams at her mother._

 

_"Mama, it's fine! Besides look what Barry and I got!" She holds up the last two pails of berries, setting them on one of the pick-nick tables that are set out, an aunt gives them a smile and laughs a bit, saying how Marlena shouldn't go too hard on them, it's summer._

 

_"Okay, fine but you two go get changed into something more suitable for outside, I know the two of you are just going to get more dirty as the day goes on." Marlena twists each of their ears as they run pass her, into the house to get on old clothes that are still stained with grass._

  


They've lived in the new place a month and Barry has finally unpacked the last box, a thing of nicer clothes of his that he hardly uses anymore. Button ups and suit jackets he probably hasn't worn in over five years, he left the suit he wore to Rosalie's funeral back at the farm house, couldn't stand to look at the damn thing anymore.

 

The funeral was wonderful, small and just close family. Close enough that a friend of the family helped with the service, Kravitz was one of his best friends and tolerated all the weird shit Barry studied through college with his science stuff. He talks to him on a regular basis, right now Kravitz seems to be constantly texting Barry about a date he had the night before and keeps gushing about the guy. Barry's happy for the man, until he brings up his own dating life. Well, lack of dating life is a better way to phrase it.

 

Barry hadn't been on a date in over five years, hadn't dated anyone steadily since a year and a half before that. The breakup was mutual, but that doesn't mean it still didn't hurt, but anyways, the guy was too good for him, and way out of his league. But right now, he was fine how things were, yeah he wanted to get out there again, see someone. Maybe to just get his mother off his back.

 

That girl at the cafe was cute....

 

He shakes his head and runs a hand through his hair, he really did have to have a thing for the most unattainable people, didn't he? Plus he was probably too old for her anyways.

 

Right now, he's sitting on a bench in the park, watching over Claudia and Julian. Julian was running around and climbing on everything, he loved the place. Claudia had found a shady tree and was reading under it, her battered first copy of the Caleb Cleveland novel open on her propped up knees. He smiles fondly.

 

After a bit, Barry looks back over to where Claudia is, after he ran up to scoop Julian up after the boy fell from the jungle gym, knees getting scraped up a little bit, but he was a durable kid and just said he was okay, running off once more. There with Claudia is a little boy, probably a few years older than her, holding an equally worn copy of Caleb Cleveland in his hands, the two of them talking to one another. Claudia was smiling brightly, but still a little nervous at the prospect of talking to someone new.

 

The boy was wearing clothes much too fancy for being at a part, but he looked utterly adorable in them. Barry stands from his kneeling position and walks over to the two of them, both of them turning to look at almost the same time to see him coming.

 

"Barry, Barry look, he has the same book I do!" Claudia points at the other boys and to hers, smiling wide. The boy smiles at him, stands, and holds out a hand. Barry can't help but to chuckle a little bit as he shakes the kids hand.

 

"I see that pup, it's nice to meet you." Barry looks at the boy and nods to him after shaking his hand.

 

"You too sir! I'm Angus McDonald and I wanted to talk to Claudia about the books, they're some of my favorite!" Wow the kid was chipper and super nice. You don't get that combo much anymore, it was kind of nice to see.

 

"Well it's nice to finally see she has someone to talk about these things with, her brother refuses to read them." Both Barry and Claudia roll their eyes, chuckling a bit.

 

"Barry only reads them when I ask him to read to me, he likes other books more." Claudia giggles and bites her bottom lip, grinning.

 

"Hey at least I read to you." Barry points out and laughs. Angus watches the interaction with a smile, it reminded him of Miss. Lup and how she would read to him sometimes, her comebacks were more funny though. "Now," Barry says, looking back to Angus. "Who're you here with, just so I don't have an angry parent coming over to me, asking why I'm talking to their kid."

 

"Oh! I'm with my foster dads friend Lup, she'll sometimes take me out if Magnus and Julia are busy, it's not often but she's really fun!"

 

"Is that the same pretty lady from the cafe we eat at sometimes?" Claudia asks, looking from Angus to her uncle. Angus nods his head, thick curls bouncing.

 

"She and her brother own the place! She's here somewhere." Angus looks around the park and finally sees Lup, who's sitting on a bench, sunglasses on her face as she seems to look over some kind of magazine. He waves to try to get her attention then huffs for a moment before calling out to her. "Miss Lup!"

 

She looks up and over the top of her sunglasses to all of them and Barry tries really hard not to flush when their eyes meet for a moment. Well, shit.

 

Lup gets up and walks over to the three of them, leaving the magazine on the table and ruffling Angus' hair as she comes up to stand next to him. Barry smiles, waves at her, and gives her a small smile. Which she returns with a cheeky grin of her own that makes Barry's stomach flip.

 

"Well, well, well. Seems like we're just running into each other everywhere, aren't we?" Lup asks, looking at Claudia and Barry. It sure as hell seems like it, they say her all the time at the cafe when they ate there, sometimes two times in the same day because it was that good, and she always seemed to bring out something or another to them, and Barry and the kids even ran into her a couple times at the store when they were shopping for food, Julian was ecstatic when  he saw her. The boy seemed to have a little kid crush on Lup and Barry was in the same boat, except it was an adult crush and he hated getting crushes on people, seemed like they were something for a high schooler. He was far, far out of high school.

 

"Seems like it." Barry chuckles and tries to act a little normal. "But to be fair, half the time we are at your cafe, it'd be a little weird if we didn't see each other from time to time, right?"

 

"Ooohhh very true, but there are customers I do ignore, because they're rude. Which you are most certainly not, Mr. Big Tipper." Barry feels his cheeks heat up and Lup laughs at him a little bit, teasing him. Fuck, this was really bad on his part.

 

"It's a nice place, wanna keep it running and all that." Barry tries to brush off what she said with a little shrug.

 

"Mmm well you're always welcome into the place, might even start a rewards program just for you so I have an excuse to give you shit for free."

 

"I mean, I'm not going to not take anything for free, especially from you." He grins right back, ignoring the face Claudia makes as the two of them chat back and forth, well more like flirt, but Barry will deny that to his grave if anyone asks.

 

"Oh I'll remember that now, I'm pretty damn smart." Lup taps her temple and grins.

 

"I don't doubt that at all."

 

Barry and Lup move to the same bench to sit and talk, while having a good view of where the kids are. Claudia and Angus never move from their cozy spot under the tree, and Julian comes running up to them every so often to tell him he's okay and to check in like Barry told him he should do whenever they come to the park. Talking with Lup is nice, comforting and makes the tension in his shoulders ease a little bit. They found out a lot about each other during the couple of hours they sat and talked to each other.

 

Barry found out Lup went to college for a science degree as well, different than what Barry went for. Lup in microbiology, she doesn't use it much, preferring to work alongside her brother in the cafe they own together, but it's a nice thing to have if she ever needs to fall back on something.

Barry went in for medical physicists, right now he mostly speaks in the local colleges, sometimes he's flown out to bigger ones if they ask for him. But he's been debating to go back as a consultant when the kids go to school after the summer is over, he's been looking at different things, he's always liked helping people and it was a nice job, even with the stress.

 

"Ohhhh, a doctor." Lup grins and throws her arms over the back of the bench, looking over at Barry, he has her full attention now. "I decided not to get mine, money and all that, plus I wasn't really spending a lot of time with my brother in those days, wanted to change that and everything." She shrugs, Lup liked having the degree, and that's all that matters to her now.

 

"Nothing wrong with that, being with family is more important anyways, I was lucky enough to be able to stay at home while going so I always saw them, even if half the time I was a mess." Barry laughs because god did he pull some late nights, and even more all nighters when he was doing his last few years.

 

Barry tells Lup how he liked working in a lab more than with people, but helping people was something he also loved to do, but sometimes the stress was too much when they had to deliver bad news to someone. Research was easy for him, he could research anything and everything if he was given the ability and he was glad that this path was able to let him do that.

 

Lup watches Barry talk about what he's done in regards to his degree, her face softening as he talks, how he talks with a passion she hasn't seen since Taako went to culinary school. It's a good look on the man who seems to have too many stress wrinkles from a tough couple of years, who walks with a limp and who seems to refuse the thought of needing a cane, no matter how nice it is.

 

"You're very passionate about all of this, it's nice to hear people talk about things like that." She points out when he finally stops to take a breath. Barry laughs and rubs the back of his neck nervously, and she puts that in the back of her head of things she likes about Barry. He's nervous but also confident about things, knows how to talk and what to say.

 

"I could talk about things I love extensively, people in school got annoyed because I just wouldn't shut up about some things, and that I would repeat myself just because I liked something a lot."  Barry shrugs and waves a hand like it's nothing.

 

"Still, it's wonderful, and I see where your niece and nephew get it, was their mom like that?" She asks, looking to the tree where Angus and Claudia are, a fond smile on her face.

 

"Yeah, Claudia is a little more quiet about things, Julian will ramble a mile a minute if you let him." Barry smiles as well and follows her line of sight to the same are and waves at the two kids.

 

"I never really thought about having kids until I met that little twerp. Angus came into our little group of misfits like a year ago, Magnus and Julia are foster parents and they're really good at it as well. I kind of hope that the two of them will adopt him, because honestly, if they don't I'm gonna. The kid is smart as hell, smarter than most kids his age."

 

Lup takes a breath and chuckles, a little wobbly. "Taako and I know a lot about being orphans, we don't want the kid to grow up like that. Taako acts like he hates the kid, but honestly he loves the boy, teaches him stuff and all that. He doesn't want to adopt him though, doesn't really want kids, but. I've been thinking of it." Barry watches her talk and doesn't know what to think about how nonchalant Lup seems to talk about adopting a kid, but she seems super serious about it, and Barry can see her easily with a kid, it makes his heart swell a little more than it already had.

 

"He seems to really like you, and I'm pretty sure if he has to leave town, it'll only be harder on him if he has to leave everyone he knows and cares about,  if he's been here that long."

 

"Angus fuckin..." Lup swallows and nods. "Damn strong kid, Mags and Julia are his first foster parents, was put with them after his grandfather passed. It'll only be so much harder and I don't want him to have to be taken away from any of this." Her eyes get a little misty and Barry puts a hesitant hand on her back, trying to comfort her.

 

"Then why don't you do it?" He simply asks.

 

"A little scared of being a mother.... how did you handle becoming a parent so easily?" Barry can't help but to laugh a little bit.

 

"Oh, Lup, it wasn't easy at all. They're older and know I'm just their uncle, even though Julian calls me dad all the time. But. It was easy because I saw them everyday, lived with them, helped my sister because she was a single mom." He smiles fondly. "But because I love them and I want to see them grow up well, so I had to grow up and learn. I've always wanted kids, feel like right now I'm out of my prime for actual kid having days." He frowns, even though he'd like to have a baby. "They're my world now, and I'll do anything I have to for them." Lup is looking at him, a little wide eyed.

 

"You're one of the best dads I know, and I've only known you a damn month." She reaches over and pokes his cheek, making him stutter and pull back with a chuckle. "Bet you'd have cute kids of your own if you ever do, look at that jaw." Lup pokes him again and he laughs, swatting away her hand.

 

"One day, hopefully."

 

"I'd drink to that if I had one." They laugh together and another half an hour goes by and Julian walks up the them both sluggishly, climbing up into Barry's lap and wrapping his arms around his uncles neck and promptly falling asleep. It was getting late. Lup just laughs at the boy and shakes her head a bit.

 

"Well I guess that means we gotta head home now." Barry says as he stands, holding onto Julian. "This was.... Really really nice." He smiles as Lup stands, the woman towering over him a little bit.

 

"It was, we'll.... have to do it again sometime." Lup says after a moment of silence.

 

"I'll look forward to it." Barry nods and looks over to Angus and Claudia, the two now just talking softly to one another, having finished what they wanted to read for the day a long time ago. "Claudia! Come on pup, time to head home for dinner!"

 

"You too Ango, Koko will kill us if we're late!" Lup says as the two start over to the adults. Angus looks down at a watch on his wrist, eyebrows furrowing together for a moment.

 

"But we're already a little late." He points out. Lup shrugs.

 

"Eh, he'll get over it." She ruffles his hair, which Angus makes a face and tries to smooth it out.

 

"I'll see you later Claudia!" Angus calls over his shoulder as he and Lup head back to her car.

 

"And you too Mr. Hallwinter!" He waves at Barry, and he waves back, chuckling.

 

Back in the car, Barry buckles Julian into his booster seat and watches Claudia buckle herself in before he gets into the car to head back home.

 

"Did you have fun, pup?" Barry looks into the rearview mirror for a moment at Claudia. She nods and smiles, clutching her book close.

 

"A lot, can I see Angus again? He's really nice."

 

"Lup and I said we'd try to plan something again, he doesn't live with her, but he does live with Mr and Mrs. Burnsides so we'll also have to talk to them about it, but I'm sure they'll say yes." Barry smiles at her and gives her a thumbs up.

 

"Good!" She smiles wide and turns her head to watch the other passing cars as they head home. Barry fixes up a small meal for them all, Julian practically falling asleep at the table the entire time. Barry'll have to absolutely take him to the park more if he tires himself out this much. They get sent off to bed earlier than usual, but Barry knows they'll sleep soundly through the night, and he knows he probably will as well. But he climbs into bed after a nice hot shower and puts on some clean boxers and a soft shirt and crawls under the covers of his bed, falling asleep after a bit, the last thing on his mind is Lup and how wonderful a person she is.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always I'm on tumblr @cowboybarry, always up for oneshot requests, just shoot me an ask and all that! 
> 
> Also the French Barry speaks is "Come here, my dear." And I do not know any French, it's mostly me looking on French forums because I don't trust google translate, and it's mostly going to be little things like that more often than not. 
> 
> Also the scene with Barry and his sister is a thing that happened to me when I was younger, me in the place of Barry, my older cousin as his sister. But I was the one who ate most of the blackberries because I love them so much.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is about half the length of the others, but I'm happy with how it's come out, I've only had about half the spoons to write so sorry if it's not up to anyones standards. Consider this one more of a filler chapter more than anything else. But like I did say, chapters will be pretty short compared to the first two though.

Barry has to stand on his toes a bit to kiss the man who has his hands on his face, and it seems he has had to do that with everyone he's ever been with, curse his genetics. But, after some convincing from his mother, and even his damn niece, he went on a date with the son of one of his moms friends, trust her to set him up. And it was a good date! Really it was, a nice sit down dinner at a place that wasn't fancy, they both decided against something like that, neither the type. And now Barry is dropping the other man off back home and while he's enjoying the goodnight kiss at the front door, he hates to admit he doesn't feel like this will go anywhere farther than this night.

 

When the two pull back from one another, Barry rests his hands on the taller mans chest and gives him a smile, charming and sweet, hating what he's going to say next.

 

"I had fun tonight, but. I don't think this is going to work out...." He shakes his head a bit. "I'm just... think I'm interested in someone else, I'm so sorry." Barry did try to date, but god Lup was on his mind for the past month and a half and he felt like the shittiest human at this moment. But he's not expecting the shrug the other man gives him.

 

"It's fine honestly, I may have only gone on this date to make my mother stop asking if I was gonna see anyone." The man looks down and twists a silver ring on his ring finger, Barry took that hand in both of his and held it tightly, a small sad smile on his face. "I'm just not ready to move on just yet. Thought I would be, especially with man as good as you."

 

"Well I'm glad you think I'm good enough for a dip back in the dating pool, but no one is going to be upset, you still are devoted to your late husband, take your time, you'll find someone." Barry stands on his toes again and kisses the man's cheek softly.

 

"This is why you're one of the best men anyone knows, so understanding." He laughs. "Anyone will be lucky to have you."

 

"Same to you." They exchange a few more words before Barry is off again, into his car, and driving back home. Julia and Magnus were happy to watch the kids while he was gone, and when he goes inside he smiles at the couple sitting on the couch, watching tv that was turned down a bit. When he enters, the two look up at him and grin. Barry rolls his eyes.

 

"So how was the date?" Magnus asks, never one to wait, as he gets up and walks to the kitchen where Barry is putting his keys in a little basket on the island.

 

"It was good, but there's not going to be a second one."

 

"Ohh noooo, why not." Julia asks, coming up beside her husband.

 

"Nothing bad, I've known him for a few years and his husband passed about a year and a half back, he's just not ready." Barry pours himself a glass of water and drinks a little bit of it, turning back to the two of them.

 

"Aw that's sweet though, at least it wasn't a bad end to the night though."

 

"It was a nice date, but I don't think he's really the one I wanna be on a date with right now." Julia and Magnus, of course, know about his little thing for Lup, they tease him constantly about it, and Barry hates it. But god does he love the two, they're wonderful.

 

"Honestly you should just ask her." Julia says as she walks out of the kitchen, grabbing her coat off the rack and putting it on, getting ready to head out. Before she starts to talk again Barry cuts her off, rolling his eyes.

 

"And the worst she can say is no, trust me, I've had my fair share of rejections, that is the worst someone can say." Barry chuckles and lets himself be wrapped into a warm hug by the taller woman, her strong arms wrapping around his shoulders. Barry grumbles against her shoulder for a moment before wrapping his arms back around her.

 

"Well I guess you'll just pine for now."

 

"I'm a master at that." Barry laughs, Julia smacks his shoulder when he pulls back from the hug and squishes his cheeks together.

 

"Hush, you're lovely."

 

"Magnus take your wife back home before I propose to her, I know you two are married but would you take another partner who has a decent chunk of change in the bank and can cook one of the best apple pies you've ever had?" He can move his head a little bit, looking at Magnus who's laughing. Said man comes up behind Barry wrapping his arms around the shorter man and Julia, resting his chin on the top of Barry's head.

 

"I mean, your apple pie is to die for, I'm sure we could easily fit you in somewhere."

 

"I'm very small."

 

"That you are." Magnus laughs and blows a raspberry against Barry's cheek, making the man squawk and duck out of both Julia and Magnus' arms, running to the other side of the counter.

 

"Gross." Barry mumbles, but he can't help the smile on his face.

 

Magnus just sticks his tongue out at Barry like the functioning adult he is and Julia simply shakes her head, grabs her husbands arm, and starts to pull him out of the hall and to the front door.

 

"We'll see you later Barry, the kids are sound asleep and they were wonderful, have a good night."

 

"You two are saints!" Barry calls after them as they head out the door, smiling to himself as he chuckles, walking to Julian and Claudia's bedroom, checking in on the two of them, walking over to each of their beds to kiss them both, before heading back to his room, turning in for the night, flopping face down after changing and pretty much passing out instantly.

  
  
  


Lup, no matter how long she has worked at this cafe, will never get over the breakfast rush in the mornings. Her and Taako had learned very quickly when they were first starting up that they had to make extras everyday for the people who came in first thing in the mornings for a small to go breakfast, and she was just happy that most people didn't stay for the duration. Only the old timers really stayed for about an hour to chat, read, and have their breakfast and coffee. It was finally starting to die down when she took a moment to slump against the counter as the little bell above the door rang and her new three favorite people started coming through the door.

 

She had no god damn idea how she befriended such a nerd, although she wasn't allowed to say that or else Taako would come up to her, telling her that she was equally one. Listen she had a thing to uphold and could never admit to her nerdiness. But as soon as Barry and his kids came through the door, to sit in their normal table closer to the counter. Barry usually orders the same thing each morning; black coffee and a slice of fruit tart. The kids will take a while to pick something, asking their uncle what they can and can't have, but usually it's always one of the giant muffins so they can have the leftovers for a snack later in the day.

 

Now, in Lup's mind, she has no damn idea how she started getting a crush on this older nerd. Okay, he was great with kids, smart as hell, and she could talk to him for hours on end, as their trips to the park with Julian, Claudia, and Angus have come to tell. She didn't date all that much, but according to her brother she had a type, and that type was older nerds who probably had a good chunk of change to their name, even if they didn't look it. He always made fun of her for it, but she teased him for the fact that he was 'taking it slow' with a mortician from the town over. Taako? Taking it slow? The world must be coming to an end.

 

Lup shakes her head, coming out of her thoughts and grabs Barry's order and walks over to the table with the three and sets down the plate and mug with a smile, trying really hard not to notice the warmth on her neck when Barry looks up at her with a kind smile, eyes wrinkling up at the corners a bit. He was a little scruffy this morning, his brown curls a little messy and his face showing a few days worth of stubble, he was adorable.

 

"My savior." Barry says and grabs the coffee to take a long sip, humming softly. "And they'll have a blackberry and a strawberry muffin today with orange juice." Julian is practically vibrating in his chair, smiling up at Lup. God the kid was just like Mookie and now that the two kids have finally met, they were now practically attached at the hip.

 

"Well I think I can do that, for my two favorite customers." She leans down in between the two and lets Julian wrap his arms around her neck in a little bit of an awkward hug, and let's Claudia just smile happily at her, letting Lup at least give her a little kiss on the top of her head. She looks over to Barry who puts on a face of offense.

 

"And what does that make me?" He asks, setting down the mug in his hand, crossing his arms over his chest. Lup bites her bottom lip, trying to keep her eyes off of the way the muscles in his arms flex and focuses on the blue of his eyes. Barry was soft and squishy, but obviously did a lot of work handling heavy loads and other things because there was a fair bit of muscle under all of that. Fuck, she was utterly useless.

 

"The one who pays for the things they buy." Lup points out as she laughs, turns, and heads back to behind the counter to grab the kids orders, taking them back to the table for the two of them. She gives a subtle look around the cafe and deems it safe for her to grab the extra chair at the table and sit down with the three, Barry doesn't even raise an eyebrow as he puts down his newspaper to look over at Lup, because this happens. Quite a lot.

 

"I suppose you're right, I'm single handedly keeping this place running with the three of us coming in for breakfast almost everyday." God Lup loves how he can throw back stuff as she throws it out, he can keep up, but also sometimes stutters something out when she throws something mildly inappropriate out to him. He obviously didn't have many people who did that in his life.

 

"That you are! I'll be forever grateful!" She slumps down against the table and smiles as the kids laugh at her. "Also. Hey Barold." She smacks at the paper he's picked up again until he puts it down and raises an eyebrow at her.

 

"Can I help you?" Barry says, chuckling a bit and grabbing at her flailing hand, fingers curling around her thin wrist, making her face heat up again. He had some calluses on his hands that Lup could feel a bit before he let go of her hand.

 

"Yeah a little bit." Oh fuck it, she was just gonna do it. "Wanted to know if you wanted to go out to dinner this Friday." It was a Wednesday, a little short notice but she didn't wanna wait. 

"There's this place Taako raves about a town over and I wanted to finally get a chance to go there, and thought it would be nice for you to come with me." She looks up at him, pouts a bit, hoping that it would work.

 

Barry, right now, can feel his heart beating so hard that it feels like it might actually burst from his chest. She was actually asking him to go out? Was it actually a request for a date? Or was this just going to be a friendly meal between two friends. He must have been silent for too long because he could see Lup about to start retracting things.

 

"Oh! I'd.... I'd love too. I'd really like too." Barry feels his face getting warm and he knows that people could easily see his flushed face. God he was so happy right now, nothing could bring this day down after this unless something super bad happened.

 

"Great! I'll call you or something about it all later on!" Lup claps him on the shoulder as she stands up quickly, rushing back into the kitchen so she doesn't scream in joy in the middle of where everyone in the main area of the cafe could hear her. She goes into the walk in freezer and screams. Just a little bit.

 

Taako finds his sister and drags her out of the freezer, mumbling something about letting all the cold out and grabs Lup's face in his hands and squeezes a bit.

 

"You did it! You got over your fear of asking someone on a date in the first time in a few years, and it's that nerd?" There's no harshness behind his voice, and he's smiling.

 

"Listen." Lup whines and smacks Taako's hands away from her face, pouting. "He's adorable, good with kids, and somehow finally managed to convince me to start settling on Angus' adoption." Lup had told Taako all of this already and he had laughed, saying someone out of the two of them had to be a parent, because there was no way he was having any. Taako already spoils Angus like no one can see, and Lup knows that it's only gonna happen more when Lup finally adopts Angus. She just had to get the spare room in her place cleaned out and all that before she starts moving onto finalizing things. She still hasn't told the boy. Wanted it to be a surprise and all that.

 

"Good, someone needs to take the little squirt in. And now you're gonna have three kids." Taako laughs, then after a minute, makes a face at the fond look that overcomes Lup's face. "Oh gross Lulu, don't get all sappy on me, that's illegal during work hours." Taako grumbles and dramatically slumps against one of the tables in the kitchen.

 

"Oh says you who is waxing poetry about the goth dude he's dating." She's teasing him, Taako wouldn't result to poetry, just a few grumbles at most.

 

"Getting worse at the comebacks there Lulu, I thought you were a nerd, all smart and shit?" Lup runs a hand over her face and laughs, shaking her head.

 

"I guess that wasn't my best one, was it?" She looks at her brother and there's a moment shared between the two and Taako lets out a soft laugh, looking away for a moment.

 

"Glad you're happy Lup, I can tell he's a really great guy." Lup looks out the window, where she can see where Barry is talking to Julian and Claudia, the two listening intently, looks of awe on both of their faces.

 

"So can I." She whispers softly, a small smile on her face.

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I'm over @cowboybarry on tumblr and always open to chat and for little requests!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey a heads up for this chapter CW/TW for a lot of medical discussion, Barry goes to the hospital for a minor thing, nothing super bad, but it's the majority of the second half of the fic, so telling you all now. 
> 
> But finally it's time for their date, it's a little awkward, then even more awkward, but they're new at all this. They'll get it eventually.

Okay so, their first date didn't really go as planned, or all that well. It's not that the two of them didn't have fun, it was funny in the end and they were laughing up against a tree in the local park, the sun was already down and the stars were out, they could faintly see them.

  
Lup had accidently spilled red wine on Barry's very nice pink button up, spilling onto the black slacks he was wearing. He had laughed it off, and waved his hands, still laughing when a waiter came over to help clean up what was on the table and to pour Lup another drink. Luckily they were at the end of the meal and finished up shortly after, and then they debated about who would pay for dinner. Barry already had his wallet out, and Lup was digging through the little clutch that she brought along, old and kind of tattered, but utterly Lup.

  
The two of them bickered for a moment over who would pay for the dinner, Lup ended up winning when she reached over and grabbed Barry's wallet, standing up slightly, she ended up sitting on it and handing her credit card to their waiter, grinning wildly at Barry. Barry simply rolls his eyes and drinks the last of his wine before they leave. They got up and walked out, heading towards the park, both grabbing an ice cream on the way, which Lup let Barry pay for this time, after giving him his wallet back, after she grinned at the pictures of the kids in it for a moment.

  
They sat down on a park bench for a little bit, Barry leaning against Lup and letting out a content sigh as the two of them sat in a comfortable silence, watching the sun go down between the trees. Lup wrapped an arm around Barry's shoulders and rested her cheek against the top of her head. Things didn't get worse until Barry blindly reached for Lup's hand, where he ended up shoving his hand into Lup's ice cream, making it go all against the front of the dress she was wearing. Barry's eyes go wide and he shoots up, hands going into his hair, getting ice cream into the brown curls.

  
Lup looks surprised for a moment, looking down at the front of her dress, then up to Barry, before she bursts out into laughter, shaking her head.

  
"Oh god Lup I'm so fuckin' sorry, god this night is just a mess isn't it?" Barry says before she starts laughing, then when he hears her laughter, he can't help but to start chuckling as well, dropping his hands and wiping the dirty one on the front of his already stained shirt.

  
"I guess we're even now when it comes to accidents tonight, huh Barold?" She laughs and stands, dropping the rest of her cone into a trash can next to their bench, turning around and holding a hand out to Barry. He takes it with his clean hand and stands, following when Lup starts pulling him deeper into the park, their hands twisted together tightly.

  
"I guess we are. I really didn't want the night to go this bad, but. I've had fun." Barry looks over and up a bit to Lup, smiling at her. "I've never had this much fun on a date before." He tells her, squeezing her hand gently. Lup squeezes back and nods, seemingly leading him through the park like she knows the place perfectly. Which she probably does.

  
"This is probably the best date I've been on in years, it's just good fun and nothing tense with it. Although I never really knew my dates as well as I knew you before, so I guess that does help some." She sits down in a little dirty spot up against a large tree, pulling Barry with her, whether he likes it or not.

  
"Me too, it was easy, nothing too stressful." The two of them smile at one another and let out soft, content laughter. Barry looks over to Lup and wraps an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close to press a soft kiss against her cheek, his stubble scratching against her soft skin a little bit. She makes a face and grins, turning to look at him after he pulls back a fraction. She rests their foreheads together, wrapping her arms around his neck and closing her eyes. Barry smiles at Lup, his eyes darting over the freckles that dot her skin, and the beautiful gold eyeliner that pops stunningly against her deep brown skin. He leans forward, pressing a kiss against her cheek again, moving up to kiss right below her eye, the tip of her nose, and then finally her forehead. Lup laughs, warm breath blowing against his skin a bit.

  
"You're such a sap Barry." She whispers, moving so she can press a kiss against his cheek, letting it linger for a moment, smiling against his soft cheek. Barry nods faintly.

  
"You bring it out in me." Barry tangles their fingers together, both of them ignoring the stickiness from the ice cream against their skin.

  
"Well I'm glad of that."

 

It's a soft few moments before they're standing and walking back towards the town and down the sidewalk, Barry walking Lup to her apartment that's situated above the cafe. They're standing by the entrance and Barry is a little surprised when Lup pulls him into a tight hug, he laughs and wraps his arms back around her, one hand between her shoulder blades, the other resting against the small of her back. Lup pulls back and grins for a moment, before leaning in to press a kiss against Barry's mouth. Barry can feel his face flush as he closes his eyes as he pulls her closer, returning the kiss.

 

The two of them stand there for a good few minutes, necking like they're teenagers, neither of them have a care in the damn world about how they're doing this right where anyone could walk by and see them. They both pull back at about the same time, both wearing equally happy smiles on their faces. Lup then finishes, peppering a few kisses all over Lup's face, almost the same as what Barry did in the park.

 

"I know I've already said this Lup, but tonight was amazing." He whispers against her, his head moving to rest against her shoulder for a moment

.

"It was, I can't wait for the next one." She gives him another small kiss on the lips before stepping back and grinning, heading to the door of her place. "Now get home to your kids, they'll probably be asking all sorts of questions in the morning." Lup chuckles and opens the door.

 

"You say that as if they haven't already been asking questions, they do. So much. Well, Julian more than Claudia, but you know how they are." Barry chuckles and starts walking back down the street towards his home. Lup chuckles softly and nods, before slipping into the cafe with a small wave. Barry waves back and can't keep the sappy smile off his face as he makes his way home.

 

It's a good twenty minute walk home and he opens the door as softly as he can, it's getting closer to ten pm and he's a little happy that he didn't have to worry about Claudia and Julian waking up since Merle happily took them in for the night, Julian and Mookie were probably causing hell, he could see it now. But it let him get a little more alone time and some well deserved rest. Firstly, he takes a long hot shower, a long one, letting himself bask in the warmth of the water. Afterwards he puts on his softest pajamas and burrows under the two blankets on his bed, falling asleep fairly quickly compared to other nights.

  
  
  


Barry felt bad about cancelling the next date he and Lup were supposed to go on, especially since he really wasn't giving any reason why. But with his luck, he wasn't surprised when Lup ended up finding out anyways because she was so damn smart. Plus his mother was in town and wanted to go to the café he and the kids keep talking about all the time to try it out. That's when she asked about his appointment at the local cancer center, Lup and Taako were right behind the counter, able to hear every word. Barry buries his face into his hands to hide his blood red face and so he doesn't have to look at his mothers worried face. She's already buried one child, he knows what's going on through her head at the moment.

 

"Momma, no, it's nothing super bad. They just need to take more blood and I'm going to a blood specialist there, nothing to do with cancer, I promise you that." He can't help but to look up at Lup after he looks at his mother, hoping that a glance will tell her he's sorry. He'll talk to her later, after his mom heads back home. Marlena looks at her son and narrows her eyes at him, reaching over the table to grab one of his hands.

 

"Sil, you'd tell me if something was seriously wrong, wouldn't you? I just. I don't wanna have to go through what happened to your sister again." Barry puts his hand over hers and shakes his head.

 

"I promise you mom, you'll be the first one to know if anything that bad is wrong. I don't want you to have to go through that hell again." Marlena nods and Barry smiles at her, trying to cheer her up a little bit.

 

Barry shows his mom around town for the rest of the day then she takes Julian and Claudia back to the farm with her for the weekend, Barry smothers them with hugs and kisses and gets a bunch in return. He goes inside and the first thing he does is text Lup.

 

'I'm sorry for not telling you earlier about why I had to cancel dinner plans, and I hate that you had to hear it the way you did. If you're not too busy tonight, I'd really enjoy seeing you.' He hopes it's not too formal, but he hits send and sits down on his chair in the living room, slouching a bit. Barry started to doze off a little bit before he hears a knock on the door and is up in a second to answer it, smiling nervously when he sees Lup there, arms crossed, looking a little upset.

 

"I just wish you would have told me." Is the first thing she says after Barry lets her in, closing the door behind her.

 

"I know, I'm just. Not something I talk about a lot." Barry rubs the back of his neck, looking at Lup, who turns to face him again, this time looking more upset than angry, like she wanted to cry a little bit.

 

"When your mom said cancer center I got. I got so scared." Lup walks over to him and grabs his upper arms, frowning, her fingers digging into his skin a bit.

 

"I know, it scared my mom the first time I told her about it, just there's a blood specialist and I've uh." He shakes his head, making a face. "They've gotta do a spinal tap to get some stuff to do some more in depth testing. After what happened to my sister, I'm just doing everything I can to make sure we know if something might be wrong with me. My family doesn't have the best health history and I'm... A little scared." He laughs a little bit, nervous.

 

"Can I come with you?" Lup asks after he finishes talking. "Because you should have someone with you, do you don't have to drive, if you're this nervous." Her hands trail down his arms to grab his hands tightly in her own. Barry squeezes back, nodding.

 

"If you're up for it, I'd like that."

 

The next day comes too soon for Barry, and Lup comes and picks him up at his place and she can practically see the nervous energies radiating off of him as he walks out of his house and opens the door to Lup's car, getting in.

 

"Nervous?" Lup asks, reaching over to squeeze Barry's hand.

 

"More than I've ever been. Okay strike that, second time. First was when I was in the hospital after I fell off a bull  when I was in my 20's." Barry had already told Lup that story and while he laughs about it now, he was horrified when it happened

 

Lup chuckles with him and then the two fall into a comfortable silence while they're driving to the hospital, it's near the university, and so damn busy. They get lost for a while, looking for the actual center, then they realize the shitty GPS took them the wrong way. Barry gets out at one point at another building to ask what way they had to go. Then finally they're on their way again and make it up to a big building, pulling into the parking garage and the only spot they can find is at the very top of the building. Barry groans, because that means this day is gonna be a long one, now he feels a little guilty for dragging Lup along with him, even though she offered to come with him.

 

They both get out of the car and Lup stretches, tall on her toes and her back pops a few times as she does, after, she rushes over to one edge of the parking garage where she can look over, and in between two big buildings mostly blocking their view, is the universities football field and Lup takes a few pictures, grabbing Barry by his arm to take a couple selfies with him, which he groans through but can't help but to smile as well, surprising Lup with a little kiss in one, making the smile on her face in the next one as bright as the sun.

 

"Okay, okay, come on." Lup grabs his hand and twines their fingers together as they make their way down the elevator and across the smaller parking lot and into the building. Barry signs off on a little sheet, grabs the beeper handed to him by the kind secretary behind the counter, and sits down next to Lup who found the two of them two seats together in a very busy waiting room. She instantly grabs one of Barry's hands, holding tightly onto him after he puts his paperwork and the beeper into his lap. He runs a hand over his face and smiles over at Lup, who returns his smile, leaning over to kiss his temple.

 

It's an hour before he's finally called back into a room, having talked to a kind woman to get his information as a new patient and everything he had to do, which took a good twenty minutes. Lup is with him in the examination room, which makes him feel a little awkward, but she doesn't seem to care all that much, pulling out her phone and looking up at him to smile and reassure him while he's looking absolutely scared, before the doctor comes in.

 

And it's routine at first, the doctor checks his heart, presses against his stomach uncomfortably, making Barry make a face and try to ignore the warmth there now. Then the doctor hands him a  hospital gown and he groans as soon as they leave, looking over at Lup.

 

"I hate this so much." He mumbles looking at her, grimacing.

 

"Do you want me to stay with you? I can if you want." Lup now looks a little nervous now as well, standing up and cupping his face in her hands, leaning down and kissing his forehead softly.

"No, no. I don't think I'm ready for you to see all this." He makes a face and then the two of them laugh together. "I'll be fine, I don't know how long this will take, but go get something to eat, walk around." Barry shrugs.

 

"If you're sure..."

"I'm positive." Barry stands up a bit on his toes and kisses Lup softly, pushing her out of the room so that he can change into the ugly gown and sit back down on the table.

 

It's not a long procedure, it was very uncomfortable and they tell him that he's to lay in bed for about an hour to recover a bit, tell him what he has to do afterwards and all that, and now he's a little happier that he brought Lup along, because now he has a headache from hell. Lup comes in and smiles at him, walking over to sit down on the edge of his bed and grab his hand gently.

 

"How ya feelin' Barold?" She asks, reaching up and running gentle fingers through his hair.

 

"I have one hell of a headache and I never wanna go through that again." Barry chuckles a bit. 

"But once we can leave, I kind of can't wait to go home...." He pauses. "Will you stay for a bit when we get back? Take a nap and cuddle or something." Barry smiles when Lup grins and leans down to kiss his cheek.

 

"I'll totally be down for a cuddle with you, you're all sleepy now and I would totally be ready for a nap when we get back."

 

An hour passes by pretty fast, and Barry makes another appointment to come back when his results are in, and that they'll call him if anything urgent comes up in the results. God he really hopes not. He's slow to make it back to the car and Lup, damn her for being so kind, is patient with him, with his little outbursts of frustration when he feels a stab of pain in his leg.

 

He sleeps through the ride home and is gently shaken awake by Lup, the two of them going inside the house, Barry forgetting for a moment that his kids aren't actually home right now, still with Merle and his kids, will be until around noon the next day, where he'll probably still lounge about and curl up and watch movies with them.

 

"Do you want anything to eat?" Lup asks when the two of them walk through the door of Barry's place. He shakes his head after a moment.

 

"Not right now, really just wanna go back to sleep." He looks at Lup nervously and she nods, walking over to him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders, pulling him against her, kissing him soundly.

 

"I could do with a nap." Lup gives him a few more pecks on the mouth and they go into Barry's bedroom, Barry giving Lup a pair of clothes to wear that are more comfortable than what she's currently wearing. She changes into those clothes in Barry's attached bathroom and Barry changes and flops down onto the bed, under the covers and smiles when Lup slides into bed next to him, curling close.

 

Lup watches as Barry falls asleep rather quickly and then she presses closer to him, pressing a kiss to the top of his head and wrapping her arms around him, holding him close. Barry had told her about the complications his family had, medically wise, and it scared her a little bit. How his father and sister passed from heart problems, how he was older, but not that old, and he was getting all these tests done because he was scared.

 

How he was still hurting anyways because of injuries from his past, but they still didn't seem to drag him down regardless, how he pushes through it from day to day to see his kids smile, how he loves the two of them more than anything in the world and she's sure that he'll do anything for them if he can.

 

God she's falling so damn hard.

  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hoo Boy. I had planned for this chapter to be out and done like. A month ago. But the past month has been utter hell on me, mentally, I fell into a real bad bit of depression, sleeping the majority of the time. But I think I'm finally doing a bit better and I wanna continue working on this because I'm liking it and all that.
> 
> Also the cancer center is kind of based on the one near me, and also the procedure he went through was one I had to go through almost a year ago, it was hell and I hated it more than anything adfsgdfg. 
> 
> But, finally, hope to get the next chapter out, hopefully not almost a month after the last one! 
> 
> And I'm @cowboybarry on tumblr, hmu for short requests!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally another chapter! There's probably going to be one more after this, not sure how long it's going to be, but I have what I want in it all planned out, so hopefully it'll be out sooner rather than later!

The summer months go by rather fast for everyone, the kids groan a little bit when the time comes around for them to go back to school. Both of them do love learning, they only want more time to spend with their uncle, and now Lup, who is suddenly becoming another favorite person to them.

 

She's wonderful with the both of them; patient with Claudia when she doesn't feel like speaking, or when she's having trouble articulating her thoughts. Or how she'll laugh at Julian's silly jokes and listen intently when he's babbling about something he really loves, or about the day he had with Mookie.

 

She's so damn good with them and every time Barry sees it, his heart swells more and more. Eventually, Barry starts helping Lup start the process of adopting Angus, who still has no idea what they're planning. Or he does and he's really good at hiding it, which he probably is.

 

Barry dropped both Claudia and Julian off at school, going as far as to walk in with them both when they asked him to, he happily does and tries to hide his own wet eyes when they hug him tightly and they hesitate before heading off to classes for the day.

 

He's there at the end of the day, a good ten minutes before the kids are actually scheduled to get out, he's waiting at the front with some other parents which he happily small talks with. He knows most of them, it's a small town after all, he talks about how the two are a little nervous about a new school, but hopeful because they're both young so it might be easier for them to move on from things.

 

It's a few moments before they're running out, Julian throwing his arms around his uncle and holding on tightly, squeezing his uncles middle and laughing brightly, okay, that's a good sign. Barry hugs him back and looks around for Claudia, who's right behind her brother, also giggling a bit and a little red faced. Barry gets down on his knees and opens his arms for the both of them, overjoyed when they both come into his arms for a warm hug.

 

He takes them both to the twins cafe, treating them both to an afternoon snack before they head home. While they're there they meet up with Magnus and Julia who sit with them and talk for a little bit before heading off back home, Julia kissing both the kids on the head before heading out. Barry leans back in the chair, hands folded as he watches the two of them do a little bit of the first day homework, Barry fills out the paperwork for the parents stuff. Emergency forms and all that, signing other things for class. Tedious work that's not actually that tedious.

 

Lup comes out of the kitchen a little while later, after hanging up her apron, and saying something to her brother as she does. She walks over and pinches Julian and Claudia's cheeks, causing Claudia to giggle and Julian to make a face as he focuses on a coloring of sort. She leans down and kisses Barry on the cheek, causing the man to open his eyes to peek out at her as she sits down, he smiles contently.

 

"How'd they do their first day?" Lup asks, leaning half way on Barry, their temples resting together.

 

"Really well, they came out laughing and they told me a little bit as we were coming over here, said they each made some friends and all that." He smiles, turning his head to kiss her forehead.  "It makes me happy to know, I'm glad they've adjusted so well."

 

"I am too, it's probably because they're close to where they used to live and all that, some things are still pretty easy on them and all that."

 

"Yeah, mom comes by every other weekend or so to see them, I know that helps a lot." Barry nods and grabs one of Lup's hands, tangling their fingers together. Lup smiles, mostly to herself, looking down at their hands, twisted together. She looks over the little scars on his hands, how his hands are calloused and wore from working on a ranch his entire life, as well as other things.

 

"Damn, you two look like you're about to fall asleep at my tables, was today really that bad." Both Barry and Lup look up, narrowing their eyes at Taako who's standing behind Julian and Claudia's seats, having put down a hot chocolate for each of them.

 

"It's been a long day." Barry mumbles and promptly lets out a yawn after he says that. "Gonna go home, cook dinner, get these two to bed, and crash as well."

 

"God, I'm gonna go home after we close up and just throw myself into my bed, I swear today has been more busy than it's been in months." Lup groans, slouching more against Barry who laughs and wraps an arm around her waist. Taako makes a face at the both of them and shakes his head.

 

"None of that in my cafe." He points at them and waves his hands.

 

"It's my place too, so I say I'm allowed to do this." Lup sticks her tongue out at her brother and makes a smug face at him. "When you bring your mortician boyfriend around, you can be all touchy feely when he's around, until then, I get this."

 

"Ugh, gross, I'm going back to work, which you should too." Taako walks around to his sister and ruffles her hair, causing her to squawk a little and get up to run after her brother, back into the kitchen. Both kids and Barry laugh as they watch the two play fight in the back. Barry and the kids head home a little after that, and they do what Barry said they were gonna do, and they all sleep through the night. Until Barry has to get the two up for school the next morning, thus comes the routine for the foreseeable future. 

 

Lup wakes up one morning, rolls over, and promptly runs into another body. She's confused for half a second before remembering that she stayed the night at Barry's and perked up when she saw said man sprawled out on his stomach on the bed, mouth parted, snoring slightly. She half lays over him and presses a kiss to his bare shoulder, watching as he finally starts waking up.

She sees him panic for half a second, looking at the clock and, then looking to her, eyes wide and a little unfocused. Lup chuckles and takes pity on him after a second, kissing his forehead.

 

"Kids spent the night at Julia and Magnus' with Angus, they're taking them to school. Everything's fine." She smiles when all the tension falls from his shoulder and he relaxes, laying back down, turning onto his back and pulling Lup into his arms. She smiles and rests her hands on his chest, still hovering over him a bit.

 

"I know it's been two and a half months, but I'm still not used to having to get up and get them ready."

 

"You're on their schedule now." Lup chuckles.

 

"You'll be saying the same thing when you finally adopt Angus and have to do this."

 

"Maybe, but you seem to forget that I'm already up before he is for school because of the bakery."

 

"Oh shit, that's true." The two of them laugh and Lup leans down, kissing him a bit. She pulls back and smiles at the dorky smile on his face. "I could get used to this." Barry whispers.

 

"What's that?" She asks.

"All of this." He gestures around with his free hand, his other hand still resting on the small of her back, now starting to move in small circles. "Dinner last night, you helping the two of them with some school stuff, then the other stuff." His cheeks go pink. "And waking up with you. It's so nice."

 

"You're such a sap." Lup whispers and cups Barry's face in both of her hands, pressing kisses all over his face.

 

"Can't help it, I've always been this way, you just bring it out in me." Barry wraps both hands around her waist and pulls her close, kissing her soundly, making Lup swoon a little bit.

 

They stay in bed until about eleven in the morning, the two of them only getting out because of their need for food. Lup makes the best pancakes Barry has ever had had in his life, not that he would ever say that around his mom, but she might agree with him if she had them. One day.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Finally coming out of my hole to do another fic, and this first chapter got away from me. I thought it was gonna be 2k at the max, but here we are. I know I mostly do modern au stuff, but I like the flexibility I have with it and all that.
> 
> I'm not sure when chapters are going to come out, or how long they're going to be... well probably shorter than this one is, hell I don't even know how long this fic is going to be. Kind of hope more than 5 chapters like my usual things are. 
> 
> But I'm super excited to finally get back into fic writing, I've just been in a weird space and haven't been able to, but now here we are again! 
> 
> Title is a quote from Les Mis, which I listened to while finishing the second half of this. There were other things I was gonna use for the title but they were a little too wordy for a good working title, and anyone who knows me knows how much I love Les Mis
> 
> I'm over @cowboybarry on tumblr and open for requests, no promises to if I'll get around to them, but I'm always open to talk about anything! I'm super nice and a super loser so I'm chill to talk to I promise.


End file.
